Flashback

Seunghyun’s POV

I stared up at the beautiful starry sky as I clutched my chest in pain. I’ve never really appreciated things like this, I’ve always been the guy on the move, doing one stuff after another, and I never really do look up at the sky or do any of that stuff. I really regretted that now knowing the sky was so beautiful and the fact that I was going to die in mere minutes if nobody came to save me.

I have abandoned Taeyang in the airport where I bought the tickets, this I regret so much. I didn’t know why I left Taeyang, I knew he was in no way tracking me for Jiyong but I knew I needed to do this alone.

I saw clouds appear in the sky, blocking the beautiful view. I sighed and put more pressure on my chest attempting to at least slow the death I knew would come for me. By now blood was everywhere, on my hands, on my chests, it was everywhere yet I couldn’t help but smile a little.

I smiled because I have done what I needed to do. I have succeeded in ensuring the safety of Seungri & Victoria. I didn’t care if I was bleeding towards my death, I didn’t care if I was to be captured again by Jiyong if by some miracle I survived, I didn’t care as long as those 2 were safe.

My vision started to blur as the rain started to pour down on me. I tried to sit up, to move, but I don’t have a drop of energy left. I felt my heart beat from the hand I put on my chest.

Thump Thump Thump                                                      

I slowly wondered how many beats it will beat before it finally stops for good. I laid there on the cold field as the rain started to really pour down. I didn’t do a thing, I couldn’t. My mind wondered and I found myself reminiscing over the memories I had.

I had a great life if I look back at it. I had great parents; they were caring, warm hearted and probably the greatest people on earth. With the great amount of fortune my parents had I never really needed to work but my father taught me that one day both of them won’t be there and I’d have to work and make decisions on my own. Like tonight, if I grew up a brat I knew I wouldn’t even had the courage to come here tonight.

I was also grateful for the fact that I have felt love in my life. Bom was definitely my first love. I knew we were only in high school but I just knew I felt something strong in between us, I’m just sad that our relationship didn’t work out too much.

Then came Victoria. She was different. I remembered the first time I ever saw her. It was in the shooting academy she and I went to. My dad had brought me there to see her. I remember the way she was dressed, casual yet deadly with the bullet proof vest and giant gun in her hand. I remembered how intense her glare was as she fixated her gun onto the moving target. I remember that smile of triumph she had when she had managed a fairly difficult shot.

It was then I realized I fell in love with her. Seeing me smiling so much my father decided that she would become my bride. I was so surprised I almost fainted but then my father told me that that girl, Victoria was always meant to be my bride, my father and her father had arranged it.

Even as she gave me a cold shoulder I was still in love with her. But then Bom came back into the picture and I denied my feelings once more for Vic and dated Bom secretly not knowing that Bom was just a High School love, she changed, a lot.

I’ve got to say that I was a lucky man. I was rich, I had power, and I had fallen in love, what more do you want? If I died right now I wouldn’t regret it so much because I knew I died for 2 people I consider my closest family.

I felt my heart start to slow down. My vision was now blurry as hell. The rain kept pouring, washing blood down my body and creating a pool of blood around me. I smiled as I felt myself sinking into the black void waiting to swallow me down.

“Victoria…” I croaked before the blackness swallowed me.

“H-hyung, we can’t take this, we’re not leaving you.”

Seungri…

“I love you, too. I love you, Seunghyun. Don’t make me leave you!”

Victoria…

Their voices filled my head like voices of angels. Maybe I was in heaven? If this was heaven, I think I would be alright but then I heard a different voice scream for me.

“Seunghyun, oppa! Please wake up!”

Park Bom?

At that moment all my senses seem to have woken up. I opened my eyes suddenly only to face the doll like face of my ex, Park Bom, was I in hell? Hell was pretty nice actually, the warm satin sheets were comfortable against my bruised and damaged skin, the pillow provided the perfect lift for my stiff neck, the bandages were a little tight but comfortable around my chest.

“B-Bom?” I asked, my voice cracking because of my incredibly dry throat. Bom seem to read my mind and went to the nightstand beside the king size bed I was laying in to get me a glass of water. She helped me sit up so I could drink the water without choking. She gently laid me back down and placed the glass back on the nightstand.

“How are you feeling?” She asked squeezing my hand gently.

“Fine. Stiff. W-where am I?” I asked her and she smiled sweetly.

“Not in hell, I assure you that.” She smiled bitterly and I mouthed ‘sorry’ causing her to chuckle. “You’re at my house. Taeyang and I, we found you… you were dying, oppa.”

“Tell me something I didn’t know.” I said jokingly and Bom’s expression turns bitter as she slapped my hand, hard.

“It’s not funny! We almost lost you!” she said and I saw tears well up in her eyes. I sat up to the best of my abilities without hurting myself and wiped the tears off of Bom’s face.

“I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to- Thank you.” I said with a smile and I saw a small smile appear on Bom’s face as she dabs a tissue onto her cheeks, succeeding in saving her flawless make up from horrible smudges.

“You shot yourself didn’t you?” she asked darkly as she put the tissue down from her face revealing her dark expression.

“Yes.” I said looking away from her face. I didn’t know why I couldn’t face Bom. Maybe it was the fact that what I did was actually part suicide attempt.

“You really loved her, didn’t you?” she asked me as she drew small circles on my hand.

“Yeah…” I sighed knowing that she was probably in Jersey with Seungri by now.

“She’s lucky… really lucky.” Bom said sadly. I turn myself to face her and stifled a laugh seeing her pouting lips, she looks like the Bom from high school.

“She’s in New Jersey with Seungri.” I said with a small bitter smile. She lifter her face, a half confused half angry expression on her face.

“Y-You sent her away?” She half asked half yelled at me.

“Yes.” I said timidly.

“Pabo!” she slapped my head rather hardly. “What if she falls in love with Seungri?”

“She already fell for him, that’s why I did… what I did.” I said looking down at the silk sheets that covered my stomach. I heard Bom sigh as she forcefully took my hand in hers.

“I’m sorry…” her voice started soft but then she looked up, fire in her eyes. “I’m sorry but I can’t let you do this! You’re the great Choi Seunghyun! You have to get her back!” she said slapping my arm again.

“First, stop that, what are you anyway? You slap like a dude.” I said grabbing her wrist to stop her from slapping me any further. “Second, she loves Seungri… well she said she loves me too but the point is she loves Seungri!”

“She ever said she loved him more than you? Huh?” Bom said cocking her head slightly to the side.

“Well- no- but” I started to say but she pressed her finger onto my lips, shushing me.

“It’s decided. Once you’re back on your feet, you’re going to Jersey. You promised Mr. Lee to protect her right?” she asked and I nodded weakly. “It’s settled then, I’ll prepare your flight once the doctor says you’re well enough.” She clapped her hands and smiled as if the matter was just settled right there and then.

“I can’t Bom, Jiyong he chipped me…” I started to say once more but she put her fingers on my lips once again, shushing me in the most annoying way possible. I grabbed her wrist forcefully. “You have got to stop that.” I said darkly but Bom just rolled her eyes and wriggled her arm out of my grasp.

“When you shot yourself you managed to break the chip. Jiyong can’t track you anymore. Taeyang covered for you and told Jiyong that you’re dead even proving it by burying the chip that the doctor took out from your chest. It’s settled, araso? You’re getting her back.” Bom said as she started to get up from the bed but I stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

“Now, you have got to stop doing that.” Bom said faking annoyance referring to me grabbing her small wrist.

“Thank you.” I said with a sincere smile.

“I kind of messed you guys up so this is my way of fixing it, rest up, you’ll need it.” She smiled before turning around and left through the door.

End of Flashback

Victoria’s POV

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Seungri asked me as he stood at the frame of my door. I looked up at him from the backpack I was packing for my first day of college. Seungri was already wearing his work clothes as he stood in the doorway his arms crossed and a worried look on his face.

“I’ll be fine, oppa. I’m not a kid you know.” I said slinging the backpack around my shoulder. “Plus, this isn’t Seoul, we’re safe, oppa.” I beamed at him.

He smiled tiredly and stepped closer. He wrapped his arms around my hips and held me close. I put my arms around his neck so that our bodies were now touching. He leaned down and caught my lips in a soft kiss before letting go a minute later.

“Fine, come on, we don’t want you to be late on your first day.” And with that both of us walked hand in hand down our new New York apartment and into the car park beside the building.

Yes we moved. After I was accepted into NYU as a student majoring in Photography, Seungri decided that since both of our activities were in New York we might as well as move there. So here we are in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment a few blocks away from NYU. Seungri decided to sell the house in New Jersey so that we could pay my tuition without wasting the limited amount of money Seungri is receiving from Seoul.

I fiddled around with the new Nikon D90 SLR camera Seungri bought me as a congratulation present for getting into NYU.

“You really like that don’t you?” Seungri said with a teasing smile when he saw me playing with the camera lens.

“I love it, thanks.” I beamed at him and he smiled.

Soon we arrived in front of NYU. Students were already making their way into the building as Seungri pulled up into a parking spot in front of the university.

“Got everything?” he asked and I nodded stuffing my camera back into my bag. “Want me to pick you up after class?”

“No, I’ll be fine. The apartment is only a few blocks away. I’ll be fine, oppa, really.” I said leaning in to peck his lips one more time before opening the door.

“Good Luck.” Seungri said before I closed the door and Seungri drove out of the parking spot and into the streets of New York City.

I turned around and headed inside my university. I went straight into the photography class and managed to get into my seat just as the teacher walked in. The teacher smiled at his freshman students and introduced himself as Mr. Wright.

I watched the teacher as he explains about lighting and all kinds of other stuff but I found myself spacing out once after an hour of his lecture. But my day dream was interrupted by a piece of paper that was thrown against my head.

“Huh?” I said bluntly picking up the paper and unfolding it.

Hey,

You’re Korean right? What’s your name?

Im Yoona

I looked to my right side to find the girl sitting next to me waving at me. She was beautiful with long brown hair and a flawless face. She looks nice.

Annyeong,

Yeah I am. I’m Lee Victoria. Nice to meet you Yoona-sshi.

I secretly handed her the note. She read it for a minute before replying. We kept on passing notes throughout the whole class until the teacher finally told us that class was over. As soon as Mr. Wright said that class was over and that he’ll resume his lecture after class Yoona got up and sat next to me.

“I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to meet another Korean.” Yoona said happily in her accented Korean.

“Same, when did you move here?” I asked her in Korean and I saw her take her time in answering.

“4 years ago. Hey, did you hear about what’s going on back home, unnie? It’s scary isn’t it?” Yoona said and my expression must’ve darkened 10 folds because then Yoona asked me: “Oh, I’m sorry… did something happen to you?”

“Uhm… my parents, they were killed.” I said timidly and looked down at my empty notebook trying to hold the tears that were threatening to fall.

“Awe, sweety.” Yoona said as she threw her arms around me. I was surprised by the hug but I liked it, it was comforting to say the least.

To tell the truth I never really had friends, not like Yoona. Back home, in my horrid life as a rich heiress, all my ‘friends’ were either fake, stuck up, or es, that’s why I think, seeing a girl like Yoona is like taking a breath of fresh air. I always had a theory, pretty and beautiful girls are always the worst es but I don’t think my theory applies to Yoona seeing how sweet she was.

So from all that note passing I know that her name is Im Yoona. She was born on May 3^rd in Seoul but moved here 4 years ago to continue school here in the states. I also learned that I was about 2 years older because I had only enrolled in a university now. She now lives with her unnie, Minzy. She kept bragging on and on about this Minzy person but I can tell that Yoona really idolizes her unnie, a lot.

“Ok, this is getting depressing. Let’s pack our stuff and head to lunch.” She said happily clapping her hands together. I nodded and started to pack my stuff with a wide grin on my face. If this was what having friends were like, I definitely like it.

“Where are we going Yoona?” I asked her as she dragged me out of the classrooms and into the hallways.

“My friends and I are eating lunch in a café across the street. They’ll be thrilled to have another Korean in the group.” Yoona said with a huge smile on her face.

“Wait, you made a group of Korean girls?” I asked curiously.

“English is great and all but nothing feels better than speaking a language not a lot of New Yorker’s know, you know? We can talk about a lot of stuff without pesky eavesdroppers.” she winked at me mischievously. I smiled inwardly, I think Yoona and I are gonna be good friends.

Yoona dragged me out of the university and into a small café across the street. As soon as we both stepped in I right away smelled fresh coffee, sandwiches and chocolate. Smelling the delicious food my stomach started to growl. My eyes widen and I clutched my stomach in embarrassment.

“Someone’s hungry. Come on, my friends are right over there!” She said pointing to a group of chatting girls in the corner of the café.

There were about 8 other girls, all Korean from what I can tell. Each one was really beautiful and pretty just like Yoona. As Yoona and I approached the table all of the girl’s heads turn to us.

“Hi guys! This is Lee Victoria unnie, she just moved from Seoul.” Yoona beamed at the girls. All of them smiled warmly at me and even waved but one of them, a black haired girl in the corner just looked me up and down.

“Annyeong, Lee Victoria ibnida.” I smiled at them and bowed.

“Seat over here, Victoria-sshi.” Said a blonde haired girl. She patted the seat beside her. I looked at Yoona who nodded encouragingly before taking the seat. The girl beside me smiled at me and I couldn’t help but make a mental note of how young she looks. “I’m Taeyeon, nice to meet you unnie.” Taeyeon smiled at me as she bowed her head slightly.

“Nice to meet you, Taeyeon-sshi.” I smiled back.

All the girls introduced themselves to me. All of them were really nice and warm hearted, well accept for the girl in the corner. Her name was Tiffany. I didn’t know what I did but she kept on starring daggers at me. But I didn’t think too much of it, figuring she was just like those girls I met in Seoul.

Ding

All of our heads snapped in the direction of the door. Walking in was a tall and built man. He was wearing a black jacket, a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses that covered his eyes. I was confused on why all of the girls were staring intently at the guy.

“Uhm… why are you all staring at that guy?” I asked as the girls gazes followed the guy who was now ordering in the counter.

“He’s not a usual. You see this café is only known by a few people, that’s why it’s not that crowded. All of us now pretty much everyone who comes here. It’s just kinda weird for a random guy to be here.” Said Sooyoung in Korean and I swore the guy smirk as he drank his drink at a table not too far away from ours.

“It’s just weird that’s all.” Sunny said resuming eating her chicken salad.

“Plus he looks kind of suspicious.” Said Seohyeon the magnae of our group.

“That outfit makes him look like a stalker.” Said Yuri glancing at the guy.

This time I was sure the guy heard and understood Yuri’s comment because I saw a small smile spread across his lips.

“Guys, I think he understands us.” I whispered quietly at the girls who’s glances went to the mysterious guy immediately.

“Omo! We only have 3 minutes to get back! Come on, Vic unnie!” Yoona said standing up. I manage to eat the last bite of my pasta before Yoona got up and pulled me out of my seat dragging me to the door.

I looked back and waved at the girls who waved back except for Tiffany who just gave me a cold smile. I looked at the table beside the girls’ table where the mystery man was sitting. He gave me a small smile before Yoona dragged me out of the door and into the streets of New York.

“Just in time!” Yoona stated in victory plopping down in her seat. I smiled seeing Yoona act like a little kid before sitting back down on my desk beside her just in time as the teacher entered the room.

I found myself thinking about that mystery guy in class. I know I should pay attention to the teacher but for a reason my mind kept on wondering back to that guy in the café. Who was he? What did he want? Did he know me?

“Ok, class! This is your first assignment, I want you to take pictures of New York City and hand me your best 5 pictures 2 weeks from now. That’s the end of class, see you all on Monday.” Mr. Wright gave us a bright smile before leaving the classroom.

“Unnie, what’s wrong? You seem distracted.” Yoona said as we walked together towards the university gate. I bit my lip contemplating on if I should tell her.

“Nothing’s wrong. Well I got to go, see you tomorrow Yoona.” I smiled and bowed politely before going off down the streets of Seoul towards my apartment.

I decided to walk around for a bit before going home. I looked at my watch, it was already 4:30 pm, I should be getting home. I quickly ran down the street towards my apartment which was only 2 blocks away from where I was.

“Watch out!” I turned my head in the middle of crossing the street to find a tall blonde man screaming at me driving his car at about 80 m/hour. My eyes widen as the car approached me uncontrollably with a frightening speed.

I should’ve run, I should’ve screamed, but I can’t.  I was frozen on the spot, my mouth was dry, my eyes were wide as the car came closer and I was closer and closer to my death. I did manage to close my eyes and let my hearing senses do the work. I heard the car come closer and closer but then just as the sounds were so close I felt someone wrapping their arms around me and pushing me away from the middle of the street where I once stood.

Both of us landed on the ground with a soft thud. I opened my eyes to see a man hovering over me; it was the mystery guy from the café.

“Y-you!” I croaked out in surprise and he just smiled and offered me his hand. I took it and he helped me stand up on my feet. I looked over his shoulder to see black tire marks on the asphalt just where I was standing mere seconds ago. I flinched unknowingly thinking that those marks could’ve been on me if it isn’t for this mystery man in front of me.

“Thank you.” I said with an earnest smile. I waited for an answer from the man but he just nodded and strode off into the streets of New York like nothing happened. I watched as the man who saved my life walked away, I guess I have someone watching over me after all, I guess Seunghyun oppa was watching over me. Thanks oppa for sending over whoever he was.

Seunghyun’s POV

I smiled at Vic before walking off down the streets before I lost control and hugged her, kissed her or even worse revealed my identity to her. I know that that girl from the café, the one in the sitting in the corner amongst Vic’s group of friends was not a good person.

I recognized her as Tiffany Hwang. She was one of Park Bom’s socialite friends but she disappeared about a year after I met her in a party at Bom’s place. A few years ago I got news from CL who was working for Jiyong at the time that Tiffany was now working as Jiyong’s spy.

That’s why I was at the café. I needed to protect her but I also needed to protect my identity until the time was right but don’t worry Vic, I’m always watching over you…